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Partygoers on a night out in Liverpool could be turned away from bars and clubs as bouncers start to breath test customers for alcohol in a new initiative aimed at making the city safer.

Around 25 bars and clubs in the Ropewalks area including Soho Bar in Concert Square are taking part in the pilot scheme which will see some bar-goers breathalysed as part of a campaign called Say No To Drunks.

The Citysafe initiative was launched this evening, and the ECHO was able to see the test in action in the video above.

Jenny Davies from the alcohol and tobacco division of Liverpool Trading Standards, explained that people with a alcohol level below 70mcg of alcohol per 100ml of breath, would be granted entrance into the bars and clubs.

She told the ECHO: “The legal drive limit is 35 micrograms, so we have set our limit at double that at 70, so if someone blows over that then they will be deemed too drunk to enter.

"We are training bar staff to help them confidently refuse to sell to people who are or appear to be drunk.”

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Every Friday and Saturday night until Christmas, door supervisors in bars and clubs will have breathalysers, similar to devices used by the police, which will only be used on customers who they believe have had too much to drink.

Cllr Roz Gladden, deputy mayor and cabinet member for social care and health, said: “A lot of people tend to preload, drinking before they come out, so if staff see someone who looks intoxicated they can breathalyse them and refuse entry if they are over the limit we have set.

“This is part of much bigger alcohol strategy which looks at why people drink in the first place to the culture of street-drinking.

“We want people to feel safe when they are out in town, but drinking behaviour has changed, now people come out much later and drink to four or five in the morning and this can lead to anti-social behaviour.

"Alcohol misuse costs Liverpool an estimated £204 million per year impacting on police and ambulance service, hospitals and so on and that’s money we could be spending on the city.”

Ian Canning, an alcohol and drug expert in Liverpool council’s public health team, added: “There is evidence that the level of drinking on Friday and Saturdays nights directly contributes to the level of activity in our hospitals.”

The initiative is also designed to serve as a reminder to bar staff that it is illegal to serve anybody who appears to be drunk.

They could be issued with a £90 fixed penalty or be fined up £1,000 on conviction in court.

Tony McGee, owner of Soho bar, said: “This is a good initiative and another tool to highlight to our customers that they must drink responsibly, a policy that we’ve always had in place.

"We don’t want to ruin people’s nights. Normally we get the odd customers that might give us trouble but using the breathalyser means we can tell that customer’s friends that they’ve had enough and it’s time to go home.”

Cllr Emily Spurrell, mayoral lead for community safety, said she hoped the breath tests would remove any antagonism.

She said: “The breathalysers are a mechanism to help door staff refuse entry to those who have had too much to drink.

"We want people to drink responsibly and for bar staff to know what their responsibilities are.”

Supt Mark Wiggins, from Merseyside Police, added that the initiative was very important for the police. He said: “We all appreciate that this is a very, very safe city, but we are not complacent, we want to make sure we can do everything we possibly can to minimise the risk to people coming out in the city.

“We know that people who consume alcohol are two and half times more likely to become a victim or an offender in relation to violence if they preload.

"That is, they drink a lot of alcohol become they come out in the city, so we want people to think before they come out don’t drink half a bottle of vodka and a load of alcohol because ultimately you could get refused by the trade from getting into these premises, when your friends might do and you won’t.”

But some customers were a bit skeptical about the scheme.

Megan Jones, 22, from the city centre, said: ”It might stop bar fights and aggressive behaviour but the bars could get a backlash.

"I like to have a drink before I go out to boost my confidence and it’s mostly students that drink around here so I don’t think they’ll take much notice.”

Stephanie Leeson, 24, added: “I think it will help people recognise how much they are drinking and maybe make them think, but where are they going to go after they’ve been turned away, they’ll just go off and cause trouble elsewhere.”